Chosen and Cursed: The Arcane Twins

by C.T. Palmer

Some fates are not chosen by the stars but cursed in the womb. Sage and Alaric Reyes are twins who have spent their lives surviving the foster system, counting down the days until they age out, with nothing but each other. No family. No future. Just a plan to make it on their own.Then a tear in reality changes everything.Now they are stranded on Haitham, where the sun itself feeds magic and twins are almost mythical. Forced into the Royal Academy and caught in the crosshairs of a brutal civil war, they carry the raw potential to become the most powerful mages Haitham has ever seen. But potential means nothing if they can't survive long enough to learn how to wield it.Powerful forces scheme in the shadows to reshape Haitham, while an unseen enemy waits in silence, having hunted them since before they understood their true nature. Concealing their true strength while desperately searching for answers, they are no longer simply trying to survive. They've found friends worth protecting and, for the first time, a home worth fighting for.A gripping portal progression fantasy featuring an intricate magic system, magic academy training, slow-burn romance, political intrigue, found family, and an unforgettable sibling bond.CHOSEN AND THE ARCANE TWINS — Book OnePerfect for fans Brandon Sanderson • Leigh Bardugo • Will Wight • Andrew Rowe

Rating

4.89

REVIEWS

Let's talk about the magic system, because that's what pulled me in and kept me there. Aevum functions as a resource with real limits: Rowan's conduit runs low in the prologue, and that scarcity has consequences instead of being a throwaway detail. The rank ladder (Awakened, Apprentice, Practitioner, Master, Archmage, Grandmaster, Ascendant) gives the reader a sense of scale without turning every character into a walking stat sheet, and the fact that Ascendants are historically rare enough to have none currently living raises the stakes for whatever the villain is planning.

The seven branches of magic, split across disciplines like Conjuration, Abjuration, Elemental work, and Mind Magic, give the academy classes structure instead of vague "magic lessons." I liked that Sage and Alaric test into different combinations, which sets up a division of labor that pays off during the heist chapter with that gear-and-rune vault. Feeding separate branches into separate paths to open one lock is the kind of puzzle that respects a reader's intelligence.

My one complaint: the Dronis species gets introduced as extinct and then explained almost entirely through dialogue in the Headmaster's office. I wanted a page from a bestiary, a scrap of lore, anything with texture instead of two adults trading facts across a desk.

Strong bones for a magic system. I'd read a whole appendix of this world if Palmer ever writes one.

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I want a conduit.

This book has a very cool blend of sci-fi and magic within the world-building. Cars that float on sound, a next level virtual reality system, and a smartwatch on steroids. The world feels lived in; I know I want to visit. The relationships and character development are fantastic.

Highly recommended.

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Okay where to start. It starts with a bang. None of this wait until chapter 20 or wait until book 19 and it really starts to get good. This thing launch’s from that start. I had just enough time to care about the characters before all hell breaks loose. I don’t think it can be done in less time and have me still care about the twins. Once it starts it doesn’t let up until the end, which is amazing. Crazy twist, at least I didn’t see it coming.

The magic system is great. It feels real based in physics. I want to see more of this. The author left a lot of room for growth and power. I will admit I fell for it. I thought the author was power scaling the MC’s way to fast. Umm nope. He completely reset expecting in a really good way. I didn’t see it coming.

The world building. Very cool I wish there would have been more included. A society based on sound okay sold, show me. Author only gave a small taste. I love the academy vibe very well done just enough for me.

All and all this is a great book. Can’t wait for the next one hope it will be soon. Recommend you check it out asap.

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Okay, I picked this up on a whim and lost my whole weekend to it. Sage and Alaric go from splitting a pot of cheap tomato sauce in a cramped apartment to fighting a lava demon in about four pages, and that's the moment I knew I was in for a ride. Diane doesn't make it past chapter one. Brutal. But it sets the stakes hard and fast.

The twins get yanked through a portal to Haitham and are dumped into a magic academy where they have to fake being weak so nobody kills them for being strong. That premise alone had me hooked before the first class even started.

Renn is the comic relief, and he's funny in a good way, not the exhausting way. His back-and-forth with Alaric had me laughing out loud on the bus, and I got a look from the guy next to me. Lysa's paint ambush on Sergeant Ironwood is my favorite scene in the whole book. And Nox, the tiny winged creature that adopts Sage? I want one.

My one gripe: some of the training scenes drag, and Sage's chemistry brain barely shows up after the opening chapter. But the ending left my jaw on the floor. Book two, where are you?

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A fun and interesting story, great characters. It is nice to have something unique in the time of reboots.

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Great book, fast pace kept me interested the whole book. None of this just get to chapter 20 and it gets interesting. This was interesting right from the beginning and just kept going. Can't wait for book 2.

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Loved this book, great magic system, the twins are some of my all time favorite characters in fantasy literature. I know there is at least a 2nd book, but I hope there are many more. Highly recommended.

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Absolutely loved it! Great characters, amazing magic, and so much heart. Highly recommend.

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Awesome story. Couldn’t put it down. Great magic system well written characters. I was hooked. Need book 2 immediately.

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Well written, great characters. The magic system is interesting plus a little bit is sci-fi. Couldn’t put it down.

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Amazing book well written, the twins are great characters. Love the magic system. High highly recommend. Can’t wait for book 2.

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Great book. Well written face paced and action packed. Must read

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Great book, well written, great first book in the series, looking forward to more.

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Love this magic system. The twins feel real. The pacing is awesome. It starts right out the gate and never lets up.

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Great book. The world building is amazing It feels real like I could visit. Characters are amazing, especially the twins. Absolute must read.

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Great story. Good characters well written. Highly recommend.

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Absolutely brilliant on all fronts. Amazing magic system, amazing characters with a world that I wish I could visit. I binged the entire thing start to finish in the same day, couldn't put it down. Now stuck waiting for book 2, which better come soon.

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Highly recommended

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The twins made it for me. I don't think I have read a book with Twins as MC's before. Their relationship feels real. Amazing.

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Amazing first book for a debut author. Can’t wait to see what is next.

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Loved this book!!! It will soon be available on audio!!!

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As a magic system nerd, this one delivered. Aevum as raw current, conduits as regulators, spell-scripts as code, and conversion efficiency determining Prodigy vs Adept vs Novice vs Inept. I loved that Sage is a Prodigy in Mind with Adept in Life and Illusion, and Alaric is a Prodigy in Elemental with Adept in Abjuration and Conjuration, but they both have access to all seven including Dark. The idea that at high enough efficiency you stop needing a script and just act on instinct, like Alaric imbuing the sword, is brilliant. It feels like thermodynamics meets sorcery and it actually makes sense.

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Loved this book, I want a Nox.

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Loved this book, can't wait for the second. The main characters are some of my favorites.

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I found my new favorite magic academy series, well book one anyway. Can't wait for book 2.

I was hooked right from the prologue, the mystery starts from there. The action starts in Chapter 1 and then you are pulled into this amazing new world. Its not medieval times with magic. It is an alternate future world, with alternate tech and magic. Not just wave a wand magic, but a system that actually feels real. Then you have the twins. It is impossible to not root for them.

Someone else said they wanted a conduit, yes please, and a Dronis or two would be amazing as well.

Can't say enough good things about this book, it is completely underrated and people are missing out.

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Love the twins, can't wait to see what happens next!

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All I can say is wow. I stumbled across this completely by accident, totally an impulse purchase, but it might be my new favorite book. LitRPG is by far my favorite genre, and while not strictly an LitRPG this is close enough for me. This checks all the boxes, I love a magic school series, I love power leveling, I love world building, love solid fun characters, and absolutely love a good villain, this has two of them. Most portal fantasy stories bring the MC back to some sort of an ancient medieval world and the hero learn magic without running water while riding horses and wearing robes. Which is great, however, this isn't that.

Haitham feels lived in, the technology is different, not more advanced just different, and very interesting. The idea of a world whose foundation is rooted in a different technology is not something i have encountered in a book like this before. I don't recall the exact phrase, but the headmaster says earth is rooted in the combustion engine, where as Haitham is rooted in sound. Would love to see more of this in future books. I can't recommend this enough, it is worth the time.

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Finally twins who actually feel like twins

Sage and Alaric are the best sibling duo I have read in years. Sage the chemistry brain who does redox equations while stirring cheap tomato sauce, Alaric the Sato Jiu-Jitsu purple belt who comes home still in his gi and drops his coaching money on the counter for their escape fund. Their banter of lab-rat and choke artist, the secret knock, sleeping on the floor in Crescent Hall because the new room is too quiet. You believe they have survived seven years together. Their bond is the heart of this book and it makes every fight scene matter more.

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Perfect blend of action, humor, and feeling. I was rooting for Sage and Alaric the whole way!

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Great book, good story and original feeling, which is rare these days.

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